States' Rights Denied

President Obama Ignores Tenth Amendment

Nothing fires me up more than an overfed bureaucrat dictating failed policy with an iron fist.

So needless to say, after I heard what Obama's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, said at a National Press Club luncheon last week, I was furious...

In reference to recent state laws allowing for the sale of marijuana for both recreational and medicinal purposes, the former police chief for Buffalo, New York, told the media that no state, no executive can nullify a statute that has been passed by Congress.

Never mind the fact that the statute that was passed by Congress in the 1930s was nothing more than an attempt to appease a bureaucrat looking to lock in additional funding for his department. (I'll get to that in just one moment.)

The truth is individual states absolutely have the right to institute their own laws regarding marijuana. In fact, I would argue that since the federal government has no incentive to do the right thing here, it is up to individual states to counter federal regulations that for more than 30 years have facilitated the destruction of local economies and local communities.

Job Security

It's no secret that the War on Drugs has cost us more than $1 trillion — that's trillion with a “t.”

The cost of human life has been overwhelming, and the incarceration of non-violent drug offenders has disproportionately affected the poor, serving as a systematic form of slavery that traces its roots back to a federal bureaucrat that unapologetically used propaganda-style techniques that have also been employed by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao...

His name was Harry J. Anslinger. He was appointed in 1930 as the first director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

Anslinger sought to outlaw marijuana as a way to ensure job security. After all, it would be hard to make the case for continued funding on just opiate and cocaine crackdowns. So he searched for a scapegoat and found it in the nation's poorer minority communities — a place where he knew there would be little backlash.

Of course, it didn't hurt that Anslinger was already known for racist rhetoric and a passion for outrageous lies based on little more than the illusions painted by yellow journalists.

The result? Well, take a look at some of these quotes...

“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”

“... the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”

“Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing...”

“You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother.”

“Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men.”

“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”

This, my friends, was really the nation's first drug czar — the same man who got the ball rolling on an agenda that would eventually rip our nation apart... and actually create opportunity for those that have no interest in Constitutional or civil rights.

A Sick, Power-Hungry Monster

You may remember last year when I told you about Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).

This is the for-profit prison company that sent employees to Vista Grande High School in Casa Grande, Arizona, back in December. Along with fully-armed law officials, they ordered the entire school on lockdown and began a major sweep for illegal drugs.

Here's a section from that article:

On the day of the “drug raid,” Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the for-profit prison company that sent employees to Vista Grande High School dressed similarly to police officers, added three units of inventory — i.e. processed and warehoused three students, two for the equivalent of one marijuana cigarette.

And with the processing and warehousing of those “violent” criminals, CCA got a few more bucks from Uncle Sam.

You see, the company makes money on every prisoner and detainee it warehouses. And all revenues are derived from government contracts that pay an actual per-prisoner rate. This has resulted in annual revenues of $1.7 billion for CCA.

That's 1.7 billion tax payer dollars — a nice score when you have friends in the right places.

But think about that for a second... CCA makes money when people are arrested and warehoused. It doesn't matter if they're guilty or not. As long as they can get someone in the system, they get paid.

Now let that sink in for a moment.

Right now we enforce drug laws based primarily on racism and lies from a sick, power-hungry monster from the 1930s. But to make matters worse, the government now employs for-profit prison companies that derive their revenues from tax-payer funded contracts.

The idea that a private prison system can save taxpayers is a blatant lie that not only leads to the continued pilfering of hard-working Americans, but to the systematic destruction of basic Constitutional and civil rights.

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My friends, these folks rely on the continuation of archaic drug laws to make money. They're their bread and butter.

And that's why these guys are among some of the biggest contributors to political campaigns.

According to the Justice Policy Institute, the three largest private prison companies contributed $835,514 to federal candidates and more than $6 million to state politicians. That's certainly enough to buy you a little influence.

I'm not saying a privatized institution can't work; but as long as the special interests are running the show, a privatized prison system is no more cost-effective than a government-run operation. In essence, they're really one in the same.

The only difference is, unlike a warden or a worker in a public prison, the folks who run these companies can't be fired — or even held accountable, really.

As journalist Cenk Uygur pointed out, you can't get inside the private prison corporations and say, "fire that guy and this guy"... They might not renew their contract, but often times the reason they got the contract in the first place is because they bought the politicians, so the politicians are going to renew it anyway because all they want is their donor check, so they don't give a damn.

Fighting the Tyrants

Fired up yet? If not, check this out...

This is from a recent piece by journalist Ana Kasparian:

Corrections Corporation of America, the country's largest for-profit prison company is admitting that in Ohio they falsified records to make it seem like they were employing staff for longer hours than they really were. The reason why they were doing that is because they have a contract with the state. The taxpayers actually end up paying CCA because even though its a private prison company, the state pays for it anyway because they're supposed to “save the state money.”

But no, they're lying about the number of hours their employees are working and as a result, taxpayers are paying them money for absolutely nothing.

That about sums it up.

So here we are today, with individual states attempting to create and enforce their own laws on marijuana because the federal ones are erroneous and counterproductive, and few politicians in Washington have the stones to take on this issue.

If anything, the very lack of leadership in Washington forces states to move forward on these issues.

And for a guy like Kerlikowske to make a statement that is clearly intended as a big government chest-pounding maneuver, well, that's just irresponsible — and it further illustrates the need to fight back against these tyrants. Because that's exactly what they are.

And let us not forget, the man who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the same man who continues to let these dogs off their leashes...

My friends, the War on Drugs was started by a mad man. It is continued by arrogance, greed, and tyranny.

Live honorably, live free...

Jeff Siegel for Freedom Watch

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